Top 10 steps you should know before starting the surrogacy journey
Building a family through surrogacy is a monumental decision, a journey that is both transformative and filled with emotion. At Be Parent, we understand that it’s not just a step, but a giant leap towards parenthood. Feeling overwhelmed? We’ve got you. Let us guide you through the process, providing clarity, support, and a pathway forward.
Step 1: Initial Consultation
Most intended parents begin their journey with an initial consultation. You’ll meet with our experts via Zoom/Skype or in person at our branch offices. Be Parent also regularly travels for consultations and conferences to international destinations worldwide. Your consultation begins with a heart-to-heart discussion. We’re here to connect with you, understand your story, and walk you through the programs and options available. Prior to this, you’ll have completed an initial questionnaire that assists our team in tailoring treatment pathways to meet your individual needs.
Step 2: Becoming an Intended Parent
Contract signing makes it official. At this stage, you will also meet your dedicated personal coordinator and the fertility specialists who will be your guiding stars throughout your surrogacy journey.
Step 3: Egg Donor Selection
Should the need for an egg donor arise, your early journey begins with the donor selection process. Every detail matters, our donors are vibrant, healthy women aged between 21 and 29, and carefully chosen to contribute to the success of your family- building plans. Every potential egg donor undergoes a comprehensive evaluation. Their medical records are scrutinized by reproductive endocrinologists, and a rigorous social work assessment is conducted by licensed clinicians. This ensures not only physical health but also emotional well-being. Our egg donors, eager to be a part of your unique story, share their essence, through various means – such as photos, videos, and detailed questionnaires. This provides you with a holistic view of their medical history, personality, interests, and motivations driving their decision to become an egg donor. Should you decide to proceed with egg donation, you have the freedom to explore our extensive egg donor database. Alternatively, your program coordinator stands ready to assist you in handpicking the perfect donor based on your specific requirements.
Step 4: Matching Intended Parents and Surrogates
Matching with the right surrogate partner is a pivotal chapter in your surrogacy journey and is not merely a process; it’s a collaborative endeavor marked with care. Here, we seamlessly blend science, emotion, and careful consideration to unite intended parents and surrogate carriers whose criteria and aspirations resonate. Surrogates, typically aged between 21 and 36, undergo a process that begins with lifestyle, support and mental health assessment, ensuring emotional well-being and stability for the journey ahead. Our meticulous triple-screening process involves thorough medical and psychological testing, coupled with a rigorous background check. This ensures a sound understanding of a surrogate carrier’s suitability as well as medical, psychological, and legal viability. Once a potential surrogate candidate is identified, introductions are facilitated. This crucial step involves the initiation of a Skype/ Zoom or in-person meeting, allowing intended parents and surrogates to forge an initial connection. During this first meeting, you’ll have the opportunity to address questions that ensure compatibility so as to gauge whether the connection feels like a comfortable starting point for both for the shared journey ahead.
Step 5: Medical Screening
Before starting the process of IVF, all parties (you, the egg donor, if needed, and surrogate partner) will complete appropriate medical screenings as directed by the reproductive endocrinologist in charge of your treatment plan. Your surrogate partner’s medical screening will take place at the designated IVF clinic and she will be evaluated by the specialist in charge and hermedical protocol will be established. Your journey coordination team ensures all parties are healthy and set for success.
Step 6: Legal Agreements
Legalities are crucial. Your surrogate and egg donor (if needed) will have their own independent attorneys to guide them, while Be Parent’s in-house legal team represents you, drafting all the necessary agreements to ensure a legally sound surrogacy process in the country of birth.
Step 7: Medical Processes
In-vitro fertilization and embryo transfer take center stage, and are managed by top-notch clinics at our 3 branch locations. Your journey coordination team handles the details of synchronizing the various treatment options required for you, your donor, if needed, and your surrogate partner.
Step 8: Pregnancy
Revel in the joy of pregnancy with the continuous support of your journey coordination team. They, along with your personal prenatal doula, ensure that you and your surrogate partner are prepared for the birth ahead. This stage of the process is certainly the longest, but can be well used to strengthen the relationship with your surrogate carrier and be as involved as possible in the pregnancy process.
Step 9: Legal Representation
Navigate the complex legal aspects of surrogacy with the help of Be Parent’s legal expertise. Our legal experts will guide youthrough the necessary documentation and court orders required to establish your parental rights.
Step 10: Birth
Celebrate the culmination of your journey! Prior to the birth of your child, you’ll work with your journey coordination team and your surrogate partner to prepare an individualized birth plan. Your personal coordinator will be your liaison with the birth hospital to ensure they know who you are and why you are there. After birth, international parents typically stay in Georgia, Cyprus and Mexico between 4 to 8 weeks, to finalize travel details and obtain their baby’s passport and exit documents.
Ready to pen your own surrogacy story? Reach out for a personal
consultation via our website www.beparentsurrogacy.com
